The positive data follow a report Thursday from the National
Association of Home Builder that said USA homebuilders’ confidence was at
its highest level since November 2005, before the Great Recession and a
financial crisis in late 2008 that almost sunk the housing industry. Building
permits rose 7.4% at an annualized pace of 1.343 million.

This is 9.8 percent (±19.9 percent) above the revised May
estimate of 1,069,000 and is 26.6 percent (±19.6 percent) above the June 2014 rate
of 927,000. Economists anticipate that the housing market will mitigate the
drag on the economy from a struggling manufacturing sector.

“The multifamily
gains this month are encouraging and show that the millennial generation
continues to be drawn to the rental market”, said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods,
a home builder from Blue Springs,
Mo.